JEDDAH, 11 May 2004 — Almost on a weekly basis, our newspapers report an accident involving a minibus or other vehicle transporting female teachers or students, some of them fatal.

Last October, an accident in which 13 female teachers and students were seriously injured en route to their school in a remote area received wide coverage.

Last month, two accidents on the same day were reported. In the first, two female teachers were killed and two others injured when their bus collided with a large truck near Taif, Al-Watan reported.

In the other accident, eight students and their driver were injured when their bus hit an oncoming car in Jizan.

Many vehicles transporting female teachers and students that are involved in accidents are poorly maintained or the driver lacks the required driving skills.

Other accidents happen when teachers are transported to remote village schools along poor roads where wandering camels and other animals add to the danger.

Last week, Al-Watan newspaper reported the injury of seven female college students in Riyadh on their way to their dormitory when their minibus caught fire. One of them suffered severe burns to 30 percent of her body.

These kinds of accidents have been reported for years and many teachers and parents continue to complain to the Girls’ Education Administration to no avail.

Selma Ahmed, a secondary school teacher, worked for two years in Al-Qunfuda, a four-hour drive south of Jeddah. Like other teachers who live far from their schools, she rented an apartment at her own expense and visited her husband and children in Jeddah at weekends.

Others prefer to commute every day to their schools, which means leaving their houses at 4 in the morning.

“One of my colleagues who worked at a village school on an unpaved road one day suffered a miscarriage on the way,” Selma told Arab News.

According to a report just published by King Abdul Aziz University, 17 percent of the minibuses used to transport women teachers and students are equipped with tires incompatible with the climate and are therefore illegal.

The tires of 22 percent are over four years old and the groove depths were unacceptable in 15 percent.

Eighty-six percent of the vehicles are not regularly checked and 20 percent are more than 10 years old.